“Like human beings,
all brands are born equal.
The trick is to prove
one isn’t. Branding is the
art and science of
identifying and fulfilling
human physical
and emotional needs by
capturing attention,
imagination and emotion
long enough to make
money from it.”
– Idris Mootee
1 2

Copyright © 2003, 2005, 2008, 2009
Idris Mootee
All rights reserved. Published by
Idea Couture Inc. No part of this publication
may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system, or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic, mechanical, photo-
copying, scanning, or otherwise, except as
permitted under Section 107, 108 of the
1976 United States Copyright Act, without
either the prior written permission of
the Publisher. Request to the Publisher
for permission should be addressed
to the Permission Department at
permission@ideacouture.com.
Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty:
While the publisher and author have
used their best efforts in preparing this
book, they make no representations
or warranties with respect to the accuracy
or completeness of the contents of this
book and specifically disclaim any implied
warranties of merchantability or fitness
for a particular purpose. The advice and
strategies contained herein may not
be suitable for your situation. You should
consult with a professional where
appropriate. Neither the publisher nor
author shall be liable for any loss of
profit or any commercial damages, including
but not limited to special, incidental,
consequential, or other damages.
A number of brand names and trademarks
are mentioned and used in this book
are protected under copyright laws and
international treaty provisions. All
trademarks, services marks, trade names,
logos and icons are proprietary to their
respective owner. Their inclusion in this
book is for the purpose of criticism
and illustration only.
60-Minute Brand Strategist –
Limited Edition
Book and cover design:
Sali Tabacchi
3 1

Contents:
Introduction 4
All About Brands 7
Branding in a Postmodern Culture 39
Strategic Perspectives of Branding 49
Managing Brand Meaning 79
Brand Leadership 119
Luxury Brand Marketing 133
2 3

IntroductIon
This book is about only one thing: brands,
branding and the only sustainable form of
leadership in an economy ruled by ideas –
brand innovation and leadership.
Its been 8 years since 60-minute Brand
Strategist was first published as a book.
Adapted from slides I used in my Advanced
Branding Seminar, the first edition was
translated and published in several languages,
including Japanese, Chinese and German.
Dr. Morgan Gerard collaborates with me to
develop this limited edition, updated
and abridged version by popular demand.
We decided to select a few of the book’s
chapters that deliver the essence of the
concepts. These concepts and techniques
are used by the world’s most successful
and valuable brands. But you’ll rarely, if ever,
read much about these concepts in
business magazines. Why? Simply put,
they’re trade secrets. Well-wielded
branding tools and techniques are powerful,
competitive weapons used to win the
hearts and minds of customers. Time and
again, they help defeat the competition.
Consider what follows a battle plan designed
to inspire, act as a reminder, function as
a tool kit and be drawn upon as a reference
that should sit on every marketing and
brand executive’s desk.
Idris Mootee, CEO
Idea Couture Inc.
4 5

all about
brands
6 7

LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE
YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU
What Is a brand?
I I I I I I I I I I I I
LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE
In a world where brands rule, products YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU
are no longer bundles of functional
characteristics but rather means to provide
and enhance customer experiences.
Thanks to the internet and wireless tech- I I I I I I I I I I I I
LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE
nologies, information is so abundant
YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU
that consumers are overloaded. They have
more information than they can digest,
use, need or even want.
Product proliferation creates so many
I I I I I I I I I I I I
choices that it diminishes our ability to LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE
differentiate or choose what we truly value. YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU
Brands help us choose. They are invaluable
tools that help us break through clutter to
make choices based on our experience of
I I I I I I I I I I I I
and satisfaction with products or services.
LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE
YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU
I I I I I I I I I I I I
LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE
YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU
I I I I I I I I I I I I
LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE
YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU
I I I I I I I I I I I I
LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE
YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU
I I I I I I I I I I I I
LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE
YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU
I I I I I I I I I I I I
LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE
YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU
I I I I I I I I I I I I
LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE
YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU
I I I I I I I I I I I I
LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE
YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU
I I I I I I I I I I I I
LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE
YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU
I I I I I I I I I I I I
LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE
YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU
8 9
I I I I I I I I I I I I
LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE

VE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE
OU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU
I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I
VE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE
OU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU
I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I
VE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE
OU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU
I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I
VE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE
OU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU
I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I
VE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE
OU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU
I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I
VE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE
OU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU
I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I
VE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE
OU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU
I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I
VE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE
OU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU
I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I
VE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE
OU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU
I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I
VE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE
OU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU
I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I
VE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE
OU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU
I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I YOU I I I I
VE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE
OU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU ME YOU YOU YOU YOU
I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I
VE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE
OU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU
I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I
VE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE
OU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU
10 11
I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I
VE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE

VE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE
OU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU
There will be a
“
I I I I I I I I I I I I
VE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE
time using a
OU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU
logo will be the
“In technocratic and colorless
worst thing
I I I I I I I I I
times, brands bring warmth,
YOU
VE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE
LOVE ME, familiarity and trust.”
OU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU
TOO
in the world.”
– Peter Brabeck, Nestle
I I I I I I I I I I I I
– Bill Bernbach,
VE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE
Founder DDB
OU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU
We’re a long long way from that day.
The truth is that people like brands. They
I I I I I I I I I I I I
VE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE not only simplify choices and guarantee
OU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU
quality, but they also add fun and interest,
provide aspirations and dreams. Some
people love them like children, which might
explain why I personally know of a 4-year
I I I I I I I I I I I I
old boy named Nike, an 8-year old named
VE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE
Ferrari and a 12-year old girl named Hermès.
OU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU
I I I I I I I I I I I I
VE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE
OU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU
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VE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE
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VE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE
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LOGO
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VE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE
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VE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE
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VE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE
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VE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE
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VE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE
OU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU
12 13
I I I I I I I I I I I I
VE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE

a brand Is not… a brand Is…
A TRADE MARk POINT OF VIEW
(These are legal properties.) Branding is a strategic point of view, not
a select set of marketing activities.
A MISSION STATEMENT
(This is a reminder.) CUSTOMER VALUE
Branding is central to creating customer
A LOGO OR SLOGAN value, not just sound bites and images.
(These are your signatures.)
COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
A PRODUCT OR SERVICE Branding is a key tool for creating and
(These are just the tangibles.) sustaining competitive advantages.
ADVERTISING ENGINEERED
(They deliver your messages.) Brand strategies must be “engineered” into
the strategic planning process.
ALIVE
Brands get their identity from meanings.
Products and services are the blood
of a brand. Your organizational culture and
standards for action are the heartbeat.
LOGIC AND EMOTION
Branding is part science and part art.
ITEM WORkING ITEM WORkING
IN ISOLATION IN ISOLATION
A BRAND
IS MORE THAN
THE SUM
OF ITS PARTS.
ITEM WORkING ITEM WORkING
IN ISOLATION IN ISOLATION
14 15

BRANDS
HAVE ALMOST
BECOME
IDEOLOGIES.
16 17

“The art of marketing
is the art of brand
building. If you are not
a brand, you are a
commodity. Then price
is everything and
the low-cost producer
is the only winner.”
– Philip kotler,
kellogg
18 19

To plan for one year,
What Is a brand?
grow sales.
“A brand is the ‘personification of a product,
service, or even entire company.’
Like any person, a brand has a physical
To plan for three years,
‘body’: in P&G’s case, the products and/or
services it provides. Also, like a person, a
brand has a name, a personality, character
grow channel.
and a reputation.
Like a person, you can respect, like
and even love a brand. You can think of it
To plan for decades,
as a deep personal friend, or merely an
acquaintance. You can view it as dependable
grow a brand.
or undependable; principled or
opportunistic; caring or capricious. Just as
you like to be around certain people and
not others, so also do you like to be with
certain brands and not others.
Also, like a person, a brand must mature
and change its product over time. But
its character, and core beliefs shouldn’t
change. Neither should its fundamental
personality and outlook on life.
People have character…so do brands.
A person's character flows from his/her
integrity: the ability to deliver under pressure,
the willingness to do what is right rather
than what is expedient. You judge a person’s
character by his/her past performance
and the way he/she thinks and acts in both
good times, and especially bad.
The same are true of brands.”
– Robert Blanchard,
former P&G executive
BRAND
CHANNEL
SALES
VALUE
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27
YEARS
20 21

1. 2. the customer
satIsfactIon
What is the What is our core treadmIll
deep need that competence? Daniel kahneman of Princeton describes
the Customer Satisfaction Treadmill.
we satisfy? What are we
The more we make, the more we spend,
the more we want. The faster we get it,
the faster we want it. The more convenient
What is our really good at? it becomes, the more we realize just
how convenient it could be. The more
raison d’être? our unreasonable demands are met,
the more unreasonable they become.
METAPHYSICAL NEEDS
EXPERIENTAL NEEDS
SYMBOLIC NEEDS
FUNCTIONAL NEEDS
22 23

brand In a world predisposed to sameness, there
are few things in life more satisfying than
taxonomIes
building brands that disrupt predisposition.
Brands move market share. Brands move
advertising award judges. Brands move
culture. Some do all.
Brand has meaning beyond functionality
that exists in people's minds. Part art,
part science, brand is the difference between
a bottle of soda and a bottle of Coke, a
computer and an iMac, a cup of coffee and
a cup of Starbucks, a car and a Mercedes,
a designer’s hand bag and a Hermès Birkin.
Brand is the intangible yet visceral impact
of a person's subjective experience with the
product, the personal memories and cultural
associations that orbit around it. Brands
are also about messages – strong, exciting,
distinct, authentic messages that tell
people who you are, what you think and
why you do what you do.
BRANDS THAT
FOCUS ON THEIR MEANINGS
AND VALUES
RATHER THAN FUNCTIONS.
BRANDS THAT
BRANDS THAT
HAVE ALMOST BECOME
ARE TIGHTLY IDENTIFIED
PRODUCT
PRODUCT-
WITH THE PRODUCT
INDEPENDENT
OR RANGE OF PRODUCTS
BRANDS THAT FOCUS
LARGELY ON
THEIR CORE FUNCTIONS
AND PURPOSES
24 25

too much the most common
advertIsIng WIth too Issues WIth brandIng
lIttle meanIng?
Cannot justify
the cost for brand
re-positioning.
Where’s the ROI? Management does
CUSTOMER VALUE not understand
why we need to have
BRAND MEANING a brand strategy.
BRAND ADVERTISING
CUSTOMER VALUE
BRAND MEANING
BRAND ADVERTISING
Management thinks
branding is just
another logo with a Sales and marketing
new tag line. aren’t reading the
same book, let alone
the same page.
Brand vision and
company reality do
not match.
26 27

Why brands are In What Is a brand?
trouble?
Don’t make the mistake of letting
brand image take over and become brand
identity. It’s only part of the equation,
not the answer.
BRANDS ARE BEING BRANDS STRUGGLE
MASS-PRODUCED TO FIND THEIR
IN BRAND FACTORIES OWN IDENTITIES
There’s a movement of Too many me-too
conservatism in brands and too
brand investment. Many much me-too advertising.
have gone from inspirational Many brands
and daring to cautionary have lost their souls.
CORPORATE INTERNAL
and risk averse.
STRATEGY BRANDING
Everyone is looking for
a save formula.
brand strategy
BRAND
IMAGE BRAND CUSTOMER
IDENTITY ENGAGEMENT
BRANDS HAVE LOST BRANDS ARE WORN
THEIR MYSTIqUE FROM OVERUSE
Consumers understand As brand manuals gets
how marketing works thicker and heavier,
and they are brand savvy. you know you’re in trouble.
BRAND
Be careful not to Instructional menus ATTRIBUTES
over-market a brand. replace imagination.
BRAND
ASSOCIATIONS
28 29

What is a Brand? What Is a brand?
The trust-based, value-producing
Today you may have a name and a
A brand is an intangible asset that resides in
relationship called a brand is proof that the
trademark, but it will take time (and much
people’s hearts and minds. It’s defined by
company is organizationally aligned to
more) before you have a brand. Brand
the expectations people have about tangible
repeat the process and sustain the values.
building is the creation and management of
and intangible benefits that are developed
Find and establish your niche. Clarify your
inward cash flow with brand equity as the
over time by communications and, more
distinct ability to make an impact.
savings account. Managing brand is about
importantly, by actions! To build a successful
Determine the desired relationship
how marketers and consumers collaborate
brand means doing the following four things:
between your customers/prospects and
to create meanings. Brand building is not an
1. MAkIng A proMIse your product.
option. roI is only relevant when considering
2. CoMMunICATIng your proMIse Create intangible, emotional bonds
alternative marketing programs. Brand
3. keepIng your proMIse
through every customer interaction.
equity is a big elephant: looking at financial
4. sTrengThenIng your proMIse
Like people, brand requires a name, a
returns alone is unacceptable. you must
personality, a character and a reputation.
understand the whole beast.
The tangible aspect of your brand is a
Brand management is a crucial element
promise. What do you do best? What’s the
of corporate strategy rather than solely
payoff? What can your consumer count
a marketing function. It helps a company
on? This promise becomes an intrinsic part
break away from the pack in creating
of your marketing message. In order
shareholder value. Brand strategy is the
for you to own it, you must communicate
viable expression of business strategy.
strategically and creatively across a
broad media mix. Both your internal and
external audiences must be true believers
of the promise. And the only way to
make them truly believe is to be true about
the promise.
1. MAkING A PROMISE
2. COMMUNICATING YOUR PROMISE
BRAND STRATEGY CORPORATE STRATEGY
3. kEEPING YOUR PROMISE
4. STRENGTHENING YOUR PROMISE
30 31

mInd over matter Advantages built on emotional values and
brand meanings (e.g. Levis, Nike, Starbucks,
Coca-Cola, Harley-Davison, Apple, Sony)
Psychological differences may seem
are often the most durable.
insubstantial, but in terms of sustainability,
they are often more resilient than
functional differences.
Intangible emotional associations are
difficult to copy:
Once an emotional territory
is occupied by a well known
brand, it is more difficult
to displace than a brand with
a functional claim.
PERSONALITY TRUST
TIMELESS UNIqUE
32 33

products vs.
brands
A product is built
A brand is built of trust
in a factory.
and relationships
A product is an object.
A brand is a personality.
A product is sold by
A brand is bought by
a merchant.
a customer.
A product is easily copied
A brand is unique.
by a competitor.
A great brand is timeless.
A product is quickly
outdated.
34 35

mInd over matter buIldIng strong
brands
Without the brand, Apple would have
been dead. The power of the brand kept Branding is often confused with an
them alive during the mid-1990s when advertising campaign or a corporate identity.
their products were lackluster. The brand Companies are still turning to branding
bought them time until they came out as a panacea. Equally problematic are the
with the next runaway hit – the iMac. self-proclaimed branding experts happy
For Apple, the brand is always bigger than to sell you pricey snake oil. In novice hands,
the product. It is an ideology, a value set. branding becomes a way to obfuscate
Apple is about imagination, innovation and relative sameness or make promises that
individualism. can’t be fulfilled, instead of communicating
It’s not just about advertising or visual relevant uniqueness and building trust
identity. Brands must be built 360 degrees. and credibility.
Branding means that collateral information,
meaning, association and value has been
spiced into the very DNA of the brand. This
has two core components: label and fable.
Label refers to all visual elements, packaging
and taglines. Fables are the extrinsic aspect
of branding attached from the outside
and most often from customer experiences,
advertising, corporate trust and customer
relationships. The brand is the totality of what
the customer experiences: the look and
feel of your office, your community reputation,
your awning and signage, your sales and
customer service people, the way you handle
business conflicts and customer complaints.
INNOVATION
Three key requirements for
building strong brands:
IMAGINATION
1. Trust between brand and
consumer
2. Common identity between
brand and consumer
3. Point of difference between
brands in a set
INDIVIDUALISM
36 37

brandIng
In a
postmodern
culture
38 39

brandIng In the age transformatIon
of brand Is a process,
transformatIon a performance
Brands are transforming themselves. As content is increasingly delivered via To make the story of a brand complete
Beyond mere ads and products, they are personalized and self-scheduled social webs, and meaningful, it requires that all of
finding new ways to get inside your viewers – not broadcasters – will decide the actors – customers and companies alike
home and be a part of your life as branded when, how, why and what is consumed. – successfully complete transitions from
content, branded entertainment, branded And they will dictate who they share that scene to scene and stage to stage. In today’s
utilities and branded space. L’Equipe, the consumption with. script, those transitions read like this:
Parisian based daily sports newspaper, The question is, What role should brand
invented the Tour de France for one simple play in this age of transformation?
reason: to sell more newspapers, branded
content with a pinch of engagement.
But customers are transforming brands,
too. New cultural modes of performance
are emerging from new network-based social
behaviors and conversations. With over
50 million people able to share ideas, opinions
and experiences in a single online space
– and generate billions of web page
impressions every month – these behaviors
Interruption is the stage Intrusion is the stage Engagement is the curtain call of this
and conversations are creating a seismic
where old scripts get between what was and what performance. A celebration of the
shift in the traditional balance of power that
shredded, rules get tossed will be. A wild zone of new new reality and the ideas and rituals
once existed between customers and
out the window and the ideas and new rituals, it is alive that brought it to life, brands that
companies.
paradigms we lived by with uncertainty, excitement will occupy centre stage are those
are revealed as obsolete. and expectation. This gestative that contribute the new ideas, help
facilitate the new rituals, meet the new
The Internet is our Inter- space where customers and
needs and, ultimately, tell the best
ruption. It has forever companies create and explore
stories. Those who ignore this new
ruptured the old system brand futures is where we
reality do so at their own peril.
of brand control and are right now.
communication.
INTERRUPTION INTRUSION ENGAGEMENT
40 41

dIstrIbutIon Is nothIng content Is everythIng
When distribution is trivial, unlimited and Great content – the kind that truly engages
available to all, marketing to a captive – helps customers tell a story, perform
audience sitting on a couch in front of a box a part of their life, communicate meaning to
is a thing of the past. In fact, this kind of others and be all that they can be. It is,
old-world marketing has become adversarial quite simply, cultural.
to customers. Having adapted to the In the past, the clearest demonstration of
media-fragmented and always-on new content (and brands) as cultural was in
reality, they seek value by searching, the subculture. Punks, mods, ravers, skaters,
discovering and sharing their very personal church-goers, artists, bikers and others
brand caches with peers – not waiting made commodities come to life through
for you to interrupt them with unwanted performances like no other consumers
messaging. on earth. Today, because of the scope and
Broadcasting is in trouble, and user- reach of social media, we are in an age of
generated videos are just the beginning. the post-subcultural. The Hipster, a mash-up
The social-casting of YouTube will of subcultural traditions, has become the
evolve and, in the process, so too will emblem of insider-ness made accessible to
consumer behavior. Instead of passivity, all with the Internet.
the experience flow of tomorrow will Just as subculturalists were the creative
be characterized by immediacy, flexibility, class of brand dissemination, modification,
portability, permeability, fluidity, alteration and transformation, so now are
interactivity, mashability and ownerability. the millions of people around the world who,
With the emergence and convergence through social media, have access to insider
of the mobile phone, the Internet and knowledges, practices, experiences,
location-based-systems, consumers also performances and collaborative communities.
have immediate access to co-workers, This occurs through YouTube, Flickr,
friends and family members. Between Twitter, Facebook and the thousands of online
CONTENT
getting used to and being born into advice, support, co-creation and retail
a connected age, they are naturally and portals. The relentless virtualization of social
increasingly drawing on participation life, the marketing of niche-interactions,
in various networks for information, the sharing of experiences and the out-
assistance, support and recommendations. sourcing of work means that less and less of
Creating great products, services and our daily lives are produced and consumed
content is paramount. Content? Yes, at home. Rather, we are performing
content. An integral part of any product or ourselves more in public, more collabor-
service and their related experiences, atively and more than every through
customers will consume only what’s relevant the kinds of very social networks that once
to them, what best serves them, and what existed solely in subcultures.
truly entertains them – not what is marketed
to them by you through repetition. Engaging
them will require branded experiences
rich in content that strengthen contextual
involvement and consumer connection.
Within such experiences, the density and
intensity of polysemic, multi-origin,
co-created and fragmented communication
will make Baudrillard’s hyper-reality seem
as antiquated as TV.
42 43

the personal brand What Is the problem?
“We spent eight
In the age of the Personal Brand, Many companies are simply not ready to
“We hired a brand consultant
commoditization is permeating every aspect deal with or anticipate identity obsolescence
and developed a great
of daily life. Style, taste, identity and like they anticipate the obsolescence of
months and a
brand strategy. Our ad
individuality have become central to what products or business models. Despite the
agency went on to create
we expect from our experiences in best efforts of management teams, many
and produce an ad
lot of money on
health care, learning, dating, news, clothing, can’t adapt to shifts in the competitive
campaign that far exceeded
food, travel, home furnishings, com- environment because the required brand-
our capability to deliver
a brand strategy
munication, sports, entertainment, sexuality, driven adaptive response is inconsistent
the brand promise. We
spirituality, birth, marriage, babies and with the company’s core identity. Any brand
ended up with disappointed
and all that’s
burials. Twenty years ago, in the social exercise will only widen the gap between
customers, internal
mainstream, this wasn’t the case. Sub- the brand and the corporate core identity.
conflicts and brand credibility
changed is the
culturalists were particularly picky about erosion.”
their purchases, but the average
– CEO, Telco
logo and tagline.”
consumer had a less refined sense of
assembling their self through products
and services.
Today, instant communication has
– CEO, Financial Services Company
blown the doors clear off of the old-world
media and advertising industry. Taste
gurus, micro-brands, blogs, chatters,
Friends, Tweeters, citizen journalists and
the searchability of style have forever
changed the how, what, where, when
and why of consumption. In the new
free-for-all of ideas, opinions, reviews and
experiences, individuals with greater
access to information strive to define and
display their Personal Brand, niche is
the norm, cool is hyper-commoditized and
branding becomes as much a bottom-up
phenomenon for customers as a top-down
priority for companies
Brands
One result is that we have become
desperate to socialize the profane. Distracted
by the pace of change, unfulfilled in our
personal lives and feeling disempowered by
our work, many of us turn to celebrities,
rock stars, designers and brands to cultivate
more meaning in life. But when work is
empowering and life is meaningful, interest
and engagement in high-consumption
lifestyles will wane. De-marketing will happen.
“I want to be cool.”
Until then, a brand’s role is to help to
create meanings in everyday life through
commodities.
Consumers
44 45

savIng your can socIal medIa
Many B-school case studies have chronicled
brands brought back from the dead. But
ZombIe brands save the
for every success, there are hundreds of
ZombIe brands?
failures: companies that tried to revitalize
Zombie Brands, Dinosaurs Brands, Ghost
old brands by hiring new agencies and
Brands or Graveyard Brands are what The Social Media Generation has
throwing endless amounts of money into
people used to call brands that customers phenomenal influence over the fate of
advertising in hopes of rebuilding, even
have either completely abandoned or brands. Active, mobile and vocal,
when there wasn't a relevant product, service
that are simply hanging on by a thread, they share the joys, angers and frustrations
or sound strategy behind the initial move.
usually at a Dollar Store or at Costco of their daily experiences with anybody
How bad is your situation? Here are the three
in a totally unrelated product category. and everybody. In doing so, their digital
most common scenarios:
Some have gone through unsuccessful connectivity becomes the web that weaves
revitalization efforts, others exist only in Brand Communities. Separated by
emerging markets, a few have simply their geography but bound by their love
My brand is sick.
lost relevance in their core market place of a particular brand, citizens of these
(Xerox, Oldsmobile) to be used casually communities can be identified by four
on products totally outside their product core markers:
Market changes direction and the brand
category (Teac, RCA, Polaroid etc.). become irrelevant. Everyone (advertising,
• Shared intereStS
product design, promotions) used to • Shared valueS
If you happen to own a Zombie Brand, understand what the brand means and they • Shared ritualS
what can you do? all stick to it, believing it connects to • Shared purpoSeS
something larger and more enduring. But
1. INVEST AND ATTEMPT TO REVITALIZE IT
one day they woke up and realized there The commercial, mass‐mediated ethos in
2. MILk IT
was a big disconnect. Your brand is stuck in which Brand Communities are situated
3. POSITION IT FOR THE EMERGING MARkET
the past. YOUR BRAND IS IRREVELANT. affects their character and structure and
4. SELL IT FOR WHATEVER IT’S WORTH
5. DUMP IT gives rise to their particularities. From a
brand and marketing perspective, this is the
My brand is
Consumers with special relationships to most disruptive trend. It means that
Zombie Brands often have sentimental Social Media, not advertising, has become
dying.
reasons for continuing to make purchases the conduit for communication and that
or for giving them a second chance. But customers are the collective source of truth
the cost and risk of bringing a brand back for brands. Given the right new content,
to life is enormous. If this is your choice, The brand is becoming boring. It doesn’t the Brand Community is a possible cure for
make sure the decision to do so is based create excitement for customers or even the Zombie Brand.
on sound logic. If you run a large portfolio, employees anymore. Younger consumers
the questions will be: Which brands are think of it as their parents’ brand. This
worth the revitalization effort? And Why? is common with brands that have been
successful and achieved market leadership.
In fact, it’s often the result of being too
successful. Your successful past has made
you lazy. YOUR BRAND LACkS CUSTOMER
ENGAGEMENT.
My Brand Has
No Vital Signs.
You’ve ignore your brand for too long
or simply let it ride to expiry. Every drop of
energy and goodwill has been squeezed
out. It has lost its power to capture your
customers' (or even your own) imagination.
Your brand is a shell of existence.
IT HAS BEEN REDUCED TO NOTHING MORE
THAN A LOGO.
46 47

strategIc
perspectIves
of
brandIng
48 49

“We have a surplus “We also have a surplus The average consumer is exposed to as
many as 30,000 messages per day, of
of similar companies, of similar brands,
which more than 3,000 are branded. Many
studies indicate that less than 10%
of prime time ads have clear positioning.
employing similar having similar attributes, Between 1999 and 2000, the number
of new packaged goods introduced
people, with similar with similar marketing increased by more than 20%, the largest
increase in a decade. Most of these
educational back- messages and were “me-too” products destined to
be lost in the crowd and to reduce some
grounds, working slogans, coming up brands to a near-commodity status.
In a world where brands abound,
in similar jobs, coming with similar brand
competition is increasingly intense and the
speed of competitive responses is ever
shorter. The race is on to rise above the
up with similar ideas, claims, with similar throng of brands and secure customer
loyalty. But all too often, companies fall into
producing similar quality, selling at similar the trap of thinking short-term, being
overly ambitious or lacking a brand strategy.
things, with similar prices. Welcome to
prices and similar the Surplus Economy!”
quality.” – Idris Mootee
– kjell Nordstrom and Jonas Ridderstrale,
Funky Business
+ + =?
ENTERPRISE
BEST STRATEGIC
RESOURCE
PRACTICES OUTSOURCING
MANAGEMENT
NOT ONLY ARE BRANDS SIMILAR, EVEN THE COMPANIES ARE
NOW MORE OR LESS THE SAME OR NEARLY IDENTICAL
50 51

brandIng and economIc evolutIon
mcdonaldIZatIon
In the Surplus Economy, the marketing
battle is a battle of the brands – a
technology is often oriented towards
McDonaldization is everywhere. Individualism
competition for brand dominance.
greater control and more consistent quality.
and diversity are replaced by efficiency
Companies will recognize that brands are
The great source of uncertainty and
and social control. It is the process by which
a company’s most valuable assets
unpredictability in a rationalizing system is
the principles of the fast food restaurant
and recognize that it is more important
people — either the people who work
dominate more and more sectors of our
to own markets than factories.
within those systems or the people who are
society throughout the world.
The only way to own markets is to own
served. Branding advertising is used to
McDonald’s has 30,000 restaurants in
market-dominant brands. The brand
put the human elements back. The warm
121 countries, 60% of which are outside the
battlefields expand beyond advertising
and smiling faces in TV commercials
USA. Shopping centers are everywhere
media and be fought on many grounds.
are intended to convince customers about
and the shops and merchandize are mostly
“calculability” over “individuality”.
the same. This trend is visible in many
other businesses from toys, auto-repair,
“(calculability) involves an emphasis on things that can
convenient stores, consumer electronics to be calculated, counted, quantified. quantification refers to
books and general merchandize. The a tendency to emphasize quantity rather than quality.
This leads to a sense that quality is equal to a certain, usually
“control” and “system” components are key. (but not always) large quantity of things.”
Replacement of human by non-human
The Battle of Brands
SURPLUS
ECONOMY
INFORMATION
ECONOMY
SERVICE
ECONOMY
INDUSTRIAL
ECONOMY
AGRICULTURAL
ECONOMY
VALUE
TIME
52 53

customer fournIer’s customer
relatIonshIps approach: relatIonshIps
Most businesses have a relationship with their customers Meet with consumers (hundreds of people over several Managing Customer Relationships has
that is based solely on price. That is why so many years) to listen to their life stories, discover their interests become Managing Software Vendor
companies are having difficulties maintaining their margins. and goals, and hear about the ups & downs of their Relationships. So, what went wrong?
The challenge is to figure out how to extend those daily lives. Then ask each person to describe his/her Shouldn’t companies be putting their money
transaction-based relationships to emotional-based “brand portfolio” and to explain why they choose the back into developing the “R” of “CRM”?
relationships. Professor Susan Fournier at Harvard products they do. Marketers and “CRM” vendors set
Business School has classified the relationships consumers Fournier drew out seven essential attributes of good unrealistically high expectations when they
have with their brands into fifteen types ranging across brand relationship quality: talk about “relationships”. Should
the whole spectrum. They include: they be using a different word instead?
“Traditionally, tactical marketing decisions –
regarding packaging and advertising, for
COMMITTED PARTNERSHIP ENSLAVEMENT INTERDEPENDENCE LOVE AND PASSION
instance – are made by different people or
Usually long-term and Involuntary relationship Brand is inextricably Consumers feel affection/
departments. A holistic understanding
voluntary relationship: a governed exclusively by the woven into consumers’ passion for the products
of the relationship that consumers have with
man is so involved with partner’s wishes or desires: daily life and routine. and may experience
a brand can give direction to a company’s
his brand of bicycle that he a consumer is unhappy with separation anxiety if it’s
marketing activities and result in a stronger
becomes an advocate the local cable provider but not available.
bond between consumer and brand”
of it, singing its praises to has no alternative source for
his friends. the service. – Susan Fournier
Harvard Business School
COMMITMENT SELF-CONCEPT CONNECTION
“A good relationship is an asset. We can
Consumers stick with Using the brand helps
invest in relationships, and we can borrow
the product through good consumers address a
from them. We all do it but almost never
or bad times either in life issue, such as a need
manage it. Yet a company’s most precious
his or her life style or in the to belong or a fear of
asset is its relationship with customers.”
product’s life cycle. growing old.
– Theodore Levitt
Harvard Business School
INTIMACY PARTNER qUALITY
Consumers describe a Consumers seek certain
sense of deep familiarity positive traits in the brand
with the product and such as dependability,
an understanding of its trust, worthiness, and
attributes. accountability – the same
qualities as one would
look for in a best friend.
NOSTALGIC ATTACHMENT
brand brings back
memories either because
it was used at an earlier
time in life or because it was
associated with loved ones
54 55

rIse and rIse
of the brand
The very technologies that make it faster,
easier and cheaper to innovate also
help us to imitate. The game switched from
innovation to imitation. The increasing
difficulty in differentiating between products,
services and the speed with which
competitors take up innovations will only
assist in the rise and rise of the brand.
Many of our dreams and desires for a better
world are no longer articulated by John
kennedys or Martin Luther kings, nor
generated through personal epiphanies –
they are now the intellectual currency of
brands. When brands connect to inspiration
and epiphany – personal, collective or
conjured by leaders – they enter into a realm
immune to imitation.
56 57

decIsIon map for decIsIon map for
brand choIces brand leveragIng
Does the brand
currently serve
strategically (size and
profitability)
important or attractive
segments?
Brand Leveraging
Strategies
YES NO
Does the Are there
brand qualify as any other strategic
a Leadership reasons to retain
Brand? the brand?
YES YES
NO NO Line Brand
Extensions Extensions
Does the
Does it add
brand have the
Can the brand
value to other
potential
be leveraged in
existing brands or
to become a
new markets?
businesses?
Leadership
Brand?
YES NO
NO
YES
Horizontal Vertical Another Product Brand
Is there Co-Branding
Are we willing Does it add Extension Extension Class Licensing
a reason to keep
or can we afford value to other
or further develop
to invest in existing brands or
a brand in this
the brand? businesses?
category?
NO NO
YES YES
NO
YES
Can the brand
be extended as a
product line?
YES NO
Up from Down from
YES
Core Brand Core Brand
NO
DEVELOP
BRAND kEEP
LEADERSHIP INTO SPIN-OFF
PRODUCT- ROLL-UP AS NICHE
LEADERSHIP OR DIVEST
BRAND LINE BRAND
BRAND
58 59

brandIng challenges Why Invest brandIng ratIonale strategIc
In brands consIderatIons
The challenge for brand management The traditional thinking around branding
is finding ways of connecting with was to endow a product or service with If consumers are not prepared to pay for
Companies
customers that provide value, substance, unique characteristics through the creative differentiating activity by way of perceiving
significance, meaning and usefulness use of name, slogan, packaging and or appreciating any unique qualities
investing in brand
beyond their current product and service advertising. In a world where there is a between brands there would be no economic
definition and those offered competitively. muddle of images and messages, justification for branding exercises. In any
building basically
This requires deep understanding of however, it is increasingly difficult for a product category, if differences are not valued
people’s lives. It means being smarter at brand to rise above the noise to be buyers tend to discriminate between brands
have three simple
developing real relationships. It also noticed and remembered. A more sophist- on the sole basis of price and availability.
must be a dynamic process in keeping up icated and strategic concept of branding
reasons for doing
with changes in ever changing customer is needed. The rationale behind branding is The question is:
wants and needs. One of the real keys to all about creating differentiation.
Does it really
long term brand success is investing so Differentiation leads to positive discrim-
so: to drive
customers like us, trust us, value us, keep ination, and large or at least profitable brand
make sense to
coming back to us, are willing to pay a share. Brand marketers must deliver
customer loyalty,
premium for us, and choose to take us into tangibles and/or intangibles that differentiate
invest in building
their lives. a brand. This differentiation not only
to maintain
For the most part, however, today’s needs to be perceived but also valued.
brands in
organizations work against this type of It is logical to assume that the main
price premium, or
brand success. The designs of most objective of branding is to create high invol-
low involvement
business organization are disaggregated. vement situations. If the branding exercise
to increase
Customers don’t think or act in organ- fails to deliver a relevant and valued
izational silos, but organizations do. This differentiation to its targeted involvement
markets?
revenue growth.
often blocks true understanding. How segments, then are its efforts are
can we ever hope to understand customers unsuccessful?
when we only concern ourselves with
The real challenge
Or, is it even possible to generate
a small part of their lives, attitudes and high brand involvement in the face of low
behaviors (that are defined by our category involvement?
is not just building
organizational role and responsibilities)?
Brands are greater than the sum of
great brands
their parts – and so too are customers.
that drive revenue
growth and
loyalty, but building
them at a lower
cost and faster
than your
competition!
60 61

categorIes
transformatIon
A good branding strategist is capable of
completely transforming categories to
create new categories or sub-categories.
Personal diaries were probably not
considered “expressive” until the advent of
the Filofax brand. Similarly, owning a TV
might be considered low in self-expression,
but an iPhone makes a statement. Other
examples include Apple’s iMac, Herman
Miller’s Aeron chair, a Burberry raincoat,
Louis Vuitton bag or an Aston Martin. While
credit cards and fine writing instruments
were once status symbols, “expressive”
items are now replaced by personal electronic
gadgets like iPhone and Blackberries.
SAYS A LOT ABOUT ME
SAYS NOTHING ABOUT ME SAYS A LOT ABOUT ME NOW SAYS LESS ABOUT ME NOW
A CHAIR A PEN
A TELEVISION A CREDIT CARD
A CELL PHONE A LAPTOP
62 63

brand and consumer the Involvement grId
personalIty
Brand personalities help firms differentiate
their products from the competition and
build brand equity (value).
“Stand for something or you’ll fall for
anything!”
Consumers don’t buy products, they buy
the personalities associated with those
products. Big k cola and Coke are equal in
taste tests … but not in market share.
Consumers don’t buy on taste alone. Brand
personalities help consumers define their
own self concepts and express their identities
to others. People find meaning only
through those brands with personalities,
not from products.
HIGH INVOLVEMENT
SUV Designer Hand Bag
Mini Van
Plasma TV
Personal Computer
Cigars
InformatIve affectIve
Digital Camera
Skateboard
Perfume
Sneakers
Spaghetti
DVD Player
THINk FEEL
Tea Bags
Air Conditioner
Toaster
habItual satIsfactIon
Milk Diapers
Detergent
Paint
Bottled Water
Pencil
Salt
LOW INVOLVEMENT
64 65

advertIsIng and What more can
brandIng be branded?
Brand management has been taking Companies have been successful in
place for years without a unified theory. branding bricks, paper, chickens, diamonds,
Common sense branding is widely milk, salt, sugar, oranges, bananas,
practiced. There are fundamental questions microprocessors and even air, water and
about its underlying principles. Many sand. Universities, cities, charities and
equate great creative ideas and advertising celebrities have been successful in branding
campaigns to successful brand building. their cultures, causes, streets and styles.
The romanticized view of advertising is And while the no-brand or anti-brand
that it can change what people think about movement has successfully made it’s point,
your brand. Advertising does not change we all know that no logo is still some brand.
what people think about your brand (which So how much is too much? Is there a
is always difficult). It only has them think saturation point where we’re sopping wet
about your brand. from too much branding, a tipping point
Despite a recent boom in articles and where we fall into the abyss of advertising
books on the subject, branding remains an and product identification.
art. There are unrealistic expectations Maybe. Probably not. Actually, only if
that methodologies or approaches are out and when the best brands cease to engage
there that can consistently, repetitively or consumers on levels of symbolic and
systematically create great brands. We have social interaction.
solved only one third of the brand puzzle.
WHAT WE kNOW WHAT WE DON’T kNOW
66

the brand as a sIgn brand customer
InteractIons
and relatIonshIps
“The brand
Social and symbolic interaction begins This is the business case for brands.
matrIx
at the level of the sign. Like a sign, a brand It’s both limited and limiting. It suggests
is a set
doesn’t exist within the global system that brands exist in a closed system
of brands except by opposition to and inhabited only by products, their creators
difference from other brands: you need and managers. For an anthropologist,
of relations
your own signifier (Swoosh) and signified the brand is a set of relations between
(victory) to make your brand (Nike) part people in time and space. Like the
between
of the consumer lexicon. Without differen- sign, it is a communicative tool that helps
tiation, you’re not communicating anything people choreograph consumption,
products in
of substance to consumers. Without facilitate the flow of social relations and
substance, they won’t have any reason identify the value and appropriateness
time.”
to care about you, anything to say of our relationships with each other.
about you and, most importantly, any
reason to make your brand come to
– Celia Lury,
life between themselves.
Brands: The Logos of
the Global Economy
FREqUENT
BRAND CUSTOMER
INTERACTION
COMPETITION
ATHLETICISM
Brand building consists mainly
Brand maintenance
VICTORY
of mass media advertising,
efforts are required to sustain
point-of-sale and packaging.
the overall brand presence.
Customer seldom needs
Event-driven interactions occur
to have contact with brand
only during a short and
owner. Channel partners
intense period of time.
control most of the customer
Examples: Real Estate Agents,
experience. Most fast
Car Dealers, Funeral Homes,
moving consumer products
Private Bankers,
belong to this quadrant.
Cosmetic Surgeons etc.
CLOSE DISTANT
BRAND-CUSTOMER BRAND-CUSTOMER
RELATIONSHIP RELATIONSHIP
Brand building is mostly driven
Brand building impact is vastly
by customer experience.
influenced by the frequent
Internal branding is vital and
interactions with customers by
operationalization of the
front line employees.
PERFORMANCE
brand will need to be allocated
A lot of marketing automation is
with considerable resource.
done through call center
The resulting impact can
and the internet due to
be sustaining and build strong
economic reasons. Examples:
competitive barriers.
Credit Cards, Utilities,
Examples: Hotels, Airlines,
Mail Order Merchants,
Retail Banking, Retailing,
NIkE Cable TV etc.
STREET STYLE Restaurants etc.
INFREqUENT
BRAND CUSTOMER
INTERACTION
68 69

Is there a theory?
Why do we need a theory for strategic
brand management? Because theory is
eminently practical. Managers are
the world’s most voracious consumer of
Branding by Branding by
theories. Every time a brand marketing
decision is made, it is usually based on
Planning Customer Experience
some implicit understanding of what
causes what and why. The real problem is
that they often use a one-size-fits-all
Procter & Gamble Starbucks
theory. There are many ways to build great
brands. Here are the four basic
approaches:
Coca Cola Bodyshop
1. PLANNING
Nestle Southwest Airline
2. IMAGERY
3. CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
4. SELF-EXPRESSION
Intel Hertz
Gillette Disney
kodak Marriott
GM Google
Branding by Branding by
Imagery Self-Expression
Abercrombie & Fitch Louis Vuitton
Calvin klein Gap
American Apperal Prada
BMW Swatch
Absolut Apple
Milk VW Beetle
Tag Heuer Allsteel
70 71

brandIng by brandIng by
plannIng Imagery
Here branding is approached as part of Here branding is approached in a more
a formal strategic planning process. Most of functional manner. Usually advertising
the time this occurs in the context of agencies take a leading role and advertising
strategic marketing planning. The typical is linked to branding. The levers of brand
approach uses portfolio and product life building consist mainly of TV commercials,
cycle concepts together with overall market posters and print advertisements.
overviews and competitive intelligence. In some cases, a first showing of a
The information is distilled and analyzed 60-second TV spot during the Super Bowl is
through each individual brand’s performance a milestone of the brand building effort.
in terms of market share and margin Visually stunning posters and magazines in
national magazines such as Vogue or
contribution. The heart of the exercise is
Vanity Fair are also used. Marketers and
positioning to ensure that products cover
all necessary profitable or emerging agencies closely link the brand to creative
segments and use brand to achieve these advertising execution.
objectives. Usually, multi-brand organ- Sometimes the burden is given to a
izations and category managers assume the celebrated photographer. The Calvin klein
ownership role of the brand portfolio and success is hugely indebted to Bruce Weber
manage the brand architecture. The key is and Benetton to Oliver Toscani. These
to articulate the overall brand strategy photographers gave those brands meaning.
and approach (e.g., a master brand approach The risk here is that advertising failure
using targeted sub-brands). This entails means brand failure. But a great campaign
far more than just organizing the brands as produces a very desirable brand and many
individual performers. To truly optimize products and advertising agencies came to
their value requires a dynamic framework fame with just one highly memorable
that makes the most of their inter-rela- campaign. The marketer continues to enjoy
tionships under a system of brands working the benefits for years.
together to drive clarity in the marketplace
and increase synergy and leverage within the
company’s portfolio.
72 73

brandIng by brandIng by
customer experIence self-expressIon
Companies see customers taking functional Here companies put the role of brand
benefits, product quality and a positive building partially into the hands of
brand image as a given. What they want customers. This has long been practiced
is products, services and marketing by the luxury and sporting goods
communications that dazzle their senses, industries as well as the fashion industry,
touch their hearts and stimulate their where there’s never enough time to
minds. Here the customer becomes the build a relevant and meaningful brand
most important part of the brand. Over that keeps pace with fast-changing
the years many brands have transformed customer needs. Consumers in these
themselves into experience brands by categories do not want to use the
creating a compelling customer experience. brand to endorse or reflect his or her
Starbucks and Body Shop did not use personality; rather it contributes to
mass advertising to build brands. Instead, building a personal or individual brand.
they put their resources into designing In other words, strong brand identities
and delivering unique experiences. The deter customers because they dominate.
Tiffany & Co. experience consists not The consumer uses the brand as a tool
only of the purchase experience, but also or status symbol, then adds in his or her
the whole experience of giving and receiving own hallmark to express who they are,
something special. The Tiffany & Co. who they want others to think they are and
trademark is inseparably linked to the ageless how they see the world and things. The
elegance and quality that define the brand. brand only requires some associated
The blue box serves as an identifier and meaning so customers can pick, mix and
sensory reminder of this, as does the Hermès match with other values or uses he or
orange box and ribbons. Yahoo and she identifies with as part of building his
Amazon.com set the standard for online or her “Me” brand. Consumers actively
experience by relentlessly improving participate in creating meanings for brands.
user experiences.
74 75

Brand success is a case of More Than
Sometimes, they do more than actively Of these, Desirability is where branding
Meets The Eye. That Pabst Blue Ribbon has
participate. By transforming basic products usually enters the picture. But in the case
enjoyed increasing sales in a dwindling
into complex signifiers of identity, perfor- of Pabst Blue Ribbon, Nike’s Air Force 1
beer market since 2002, Nike’s Air Force
mance and social membership, consumers and Levi’s jeans, branding didn’t enter the
1 has been re-mastered and sold out
often oversee some of the finer details of picture until well into the success curve
in more design manifestations than any
how a brand is ‘managed’ in the real world. of these brands. One day, maybe after
product maybe ever and, although the
With help from Marlon Brando to Dee Dee fumbling through sales reports, someone in
last few years haven’t been kind, Levi’s 501s
Ramone to the kids they stood for, work an office woke up to the fact that kids on
have been a fashion staple for over
wear first sewn up in 19th Century San the street made these brands hot, not Brand
50 years is testament to what it is that
Francisco and then ripped around the world Managers or media buys.
transforms products into brands:
became the global signifier of youth culture.
Thanks to early B-boys in Baltimore,
Does that
USABILITY
Philadelphia and New York City, a 1982
Does it work for me, work well and fit
basketball sneaker with no advertising
mean I can’t
into my life?
or marketing budget became an enduring
icon of global hip hop culture.
CONSUMABILITY
architect
And with Portland bike messengers latching
Does it taste good? Look good? Feel good?
on to its underdog status and bar discounts,
a down-and-out beer became a celebration
consumer
PERFORMATIVITY
of American low-brow culture.
Does it help do/say/be/show something
attraction
important?
DESIRABILITY
to my brand?
Is there a social, cultural or personal need
it fulfills?
No. What it means is that consumer cultures
and communities are often best left to
their own devices to build themselves from
the ground up with their own rules and
regulations. With a little field exploration to
determine the boundaries that these cultures
and communities wish to keep, permeate
or dissolve between you and them – and with
a healthy respect for those boundaries
should you want to maintain your most loyal
consumer base - you might collaborate,
nurture or simply help perpetuate the
conditions under which they will continue
to thrive.
76 77

managIng
brand
meanIng
78 79

most common Where to start?
confusIons
If a company wants to be regarded in a
certain way (brand identity), everything must
People often confuse a new name or logo People often confuse corporate Identity
support that desired identity.
with branding. Many companies have with corporate branding. The “corporate
Does the corporate/business strategy and
been led to believe that if they get a new identity” approach is preferred by design
the company’s execution against it support
brand name, logo and marketing materials, firms in the business of logo and brand name
that desired identity? If so, then the desired
they’ve solved the branding problem. This development, letterhead design, stationery
brand identity may be appropriate (obviously,
is the number one mistake most companies and business forms, uniforms, shop interiors,
there are a lot of other considerations).
make when it comes to branding. This etc. However, brand name and logo are
If not, the brand identity will not be attainable
is a costly proposition, and the end result not the most important part of corporate
until alignment is achieved.
may not produce meaningful changes branding. What really matters is what the
Alternately, it’s appropriate to use the
to the bottom line. brand name and logo stand for, the trust they
desired brand identity as an “end state” for
have earned (and will earn) with customers.
company management and employees
We should all aspire to build trusted brands
to visualize, to drive change and support the
because they retain loyal customers for
corporate strategy. Establish a strategic
years – or even a lifetime.
process to allow your company to realize that
According to Wharton Professor
vision over time. The company strategy
J. Reibstein, the actual name of a company
and brand strategy grow together towards a
doesn’t make much of a difference.
common direction.
What companies end up doing is a significant
amount of advertising and creating an
image around the name.
Start with Brand Strategy
or Business Strategy?
START WITH
BRAND IDENTITY
Everything a company does
should come from this
BRAND IDENTITY AS
A FINAL GOAL
Everything a company does
should work towards this
80 81

managIng brand Brands with lower brand meaning simply
cannot support many extensions. For brand
meanIng
extensions, answer these questions:
companies aggressively expand their
(based on past performance), Nestlé’s 1988
If a brand does not have vital consumer Is the extension consistent with your longer
product range targeting different segments.
acquisition of Rowntree was about the
meaning, then it is not worthwhile investing term brand vision?
Mercedes owns the word engineering,
future advantages that could be conjured
financially and organizationally in its
Does the extension actually add value to
BMW performance, and Volvo safety.
from the latent essences and meanings
leadership. It is not worth the time and
your brand?
Yet when Mercedes launched the C-series
of its brands.
resources to push it or to make it a
to appeal to younger segments, BMW
Al Ries and Jack Trout wrote that “owning
rallying point for the skills of the company’s Are you able to deliver on the branded
launched the 7 series for those who
a word in the prospect’s mind” is the
people; nor is it worthwhile living the customer experience?
appreciate state-of-the-art engineering and
most powerful concept. This occurs when
value relationships that emerge from the
Is the benefit consistent with your
Volvo revamped its product range with
the association is so strong that any word
branding process.
positioning?
a sportier look to suggest speed, those
is immediately linked to a brand. They
Conversely, if a brand does have vital
associations quickly became meaningless.
insisted that “no matter how complicated
(and self-perpetuating) consumer meaning, If this extension fails, is it a major or minor
the product, no matter how complicated
companies discover that there are more setback for your brand?
the needs of the market, it’s always better to
significant similarities than differences among
focus on one word or benefit rather two
consumers in their sphere of business
or three.”
as they market a brand’s essence around
This is often true of any single product
the world.
or category brand, but today’s brands have
Rowntree failed to recognize that an
become very sophisticated. Owning
impulse-grabbing concept like “have a break,
category words and benefit-related words
have a kit kat” could capture consumer
are not enough. Competitors will try to
imagination and establish a global and local
undermine this association. Instead, own
‘time-out’ place in consumer lives. Nestlé
values beyond the narrow focus of
didn’t. Appreciating that Rowntree’s leading
functional benefits. Benefit-related word
brands had enough meaning invested in
association is less powerful when quality,
them to be worthwhile, they purchased the
service and design are at par and
company. More than just a US$4.5 value
HIGH
MOST MEANINGFUL AND MOST
DIFFICULT TO IMITATE, BUT
HARDEST TO CREATE, DELIVER
AND SUSTAIN
BELIEFS
AND
VALUES
LEVEL OF BRAND MEANING
BENEFITS
Bottled
Water
Regular
Jeans
ATTRIBUTES
EASIEST TO DELIVER,
BUT LEAST MEANINGFUL AND
Regular
VERY EASILY IMITATED
Coffee
LOW
LOW HIGH
DEGREE OF PRODUCT DIFFERENTIATION
82 83

BRAND
brands and customer
value
What is the difference between a Value’s elusive meaning
AWARENESS
Brand Promise and a Mission Statement?
Value is a simple word with a complex
The basic difference is one of perspective. meaning. Value is defined in the mind of
A mission statement generally articulates the customer. Yet, value is neither a
IS NOT
an organization’s internal perspective constant nor even a consistent impression.
regarding direction and objectives. On the Value depends both on situation and
other hand, the Brand Promise is written context. A customer’s perception of value
primarily from the customers’ perspective, can and usually does change with time
THE SAME AS
articulating the essence of the brand’s and circumstances, often unpredictably.
benefits (functional and emotional) Certain attributes of a product or service
experienced through a brand’s products may be valued while others are not –
and services. some features may be valued negatively.
BRAND
Alternatives affect value perceptions,
and choices are constantly expanding.
Changing needs affect value perceptions,
but those needs constantly change too.
DIFFERENTIATION
In spite of the volatility of value’s meaning,
most of the time people form relatively
stable perceptions of a brand’s image,
reputation and value promise. Brand
marketing’s role is to bring the two together.
BRAND PROMISE MISSION STATEMENT
FROM A CLIENT’S FROM THE
EXTERNAL ORGANIZATION’S
PERSPECTIVE INTERNAL
PERSPECTIVE
84 85

When to Invest In Is It prIce
brands or Is It brands?
Despite the lip service paid to developing
brand strategies and investing in branding
efforts, many brands are sill moving towards
commoditization. They are becoming much
more well-known and yet less differentiated
in the minds of consumers. You must ask
yourself these questions before you invest
heavily in building your brand:
1. What is the level of achievable brand
Price is More
differentiation in your category or industry?
2. Do you have a sound growth plan as well
Important than Brand
as a growth mind-set in place to
capitalize on your brand equity as a result
of your brand investment?
Online Bookstore
3. How will your existing customers respond
to your increased commoditization?
Rental Car
Office Supply Store Brand is More
Important than Price
Bookstore
Beer
Bottled water
Liquor
Gas Station
Automobile
=?
Long Distance
Telephone Provider Cola
Cellular Phone Personal Computer
Provider
Brokerage
Major Household
Appliance
Motor Oil
Source: Market Facts – Copernicus 2000
86

rethInkIng loyalty brand metrIcs
Many consumers tell researchers that they Metrics provide direction, not control.
are perfectly happy with the brands they They monitor progress to success
are using, yet jump at the next opportunity to prevent firms from driving blindfold.
to switch brands. Brand awareness and
satisfaction are poor predictors of human
behavior and we should not be putting
too much emphasis on them.
Loyalty has two different meanings:
Loyalty due to a lack of choice or
pure convenience vs. loyalty as a result
of commitment
Measured by
Metric
Consumer preference or
Relative
satisfaction as % average for
Satisfaction
market or competitors
Relative market awareness
Salience
Index of switchability (or
Commitment
similar measure of retention,
loyalty, purchase intent
or relationship bonding)
Perceived quality satisfaction
Relative Perceived
as average % of market or
quality
against competitors
Market share (value) or
Relative Price
Market share (volume)
I am with you I am with you
because I really because you are
Distribution (e.g. weighted
Availability
love you. convenient.
% of retail outlets carrying
(YOU ARE THE ONLY ONE) (THERE WAS NO ONE ELSE)
the brand)
88

the brand loyalty Who’s WInnIng?
myth: does market
leadershIp =
loyalty leadershIp?
If not, then you need to decide which one
is your Prime Branding Objective.
In a recent worldwide survey, Young &
Rubicam surveyed 30,000 consumers and
6,000 brands and found that the way to
build brand equity was to focus on differen-
tiation, not awareness. Their research
found that the traditional F.R.E.D. (familiarity,
relevance, esteem, and differentiation)
approach to marketing was not as effective
as a strategy that emphasized developing
product differentiation over awareness.
MARkET LEADER CONSUMER
CONSUMER
Market Leader = Loyalty Leader?
PRODUCT MARkET LEADER’S BRAND LOYALTY
CATEGORY LOYALTY RATE LEADER RATE
LOYALTY LEADER CONSUMER
High Loyalty Rates
Cigarettes Marlboro (42) Tareyton (74)
Cold Remedies Contac (38) Bayer DCT (50)
Source: Don Johnson ‘A Re-examination of the Process of Branding’ Harvard Business School
Headache Remedies Bayer (33) Tylenol (45)
Medium Loyalty Rates
Toothpaste Crest (38) Ultrabrite (39)
Cooking Oil Crisco (36) Mazola (39)
Cola Coca Cola (29) Tab (43)
CONSUMER
Low Loyalty Rates
Facial Tissues kleenex (18) Puffs (28)
Paper Towels Bounty (17) Brawny (22)
Aluminum Reynolds (17) No-name (17)
90

“You can’t survive floating
on the tide, assessing the
competition, conducting
surveys to find out what your
customers want right now.
believe in your
What do you want? What do
‘it’
you want to tell the world
in the future? What does your
company have that will
enrich the world? You must
believe in that ‘it’ strongly
enough to become unique at
what you do.”
– Jesper kunde,
A Unique Moment
92 93

products vs.
markets
As product spaces become modularized,
componentized and compartmentalized to
address the individual, customized targeted
needs of markets, the correspondent
market space and the value chains in them
become more integrated.
In a sense, products disintegrate while
markets become integrated. This is forced
onto ever more expansive value chains.
Individual Products Integrated Markets
94 95

The colonization of physical space
is now extending to the mental
space and happening at an even
faster pace.
Companies used to be
product producers
Courtesy of Apple Computer, Inc.
Now they must become
meaning brokers
96 97

arless unexpected bold radica
amer resolute poetic undaunt
ssy daring adventurous gent
“WHO ARE YOU
[these days] ?”
and WHAT can you
ristic individual power unwave
do for me?
– Tom Peters,
Management Guru
ocative idyllic visionary wild s
daunted soulful caring dynam
hentic brave unorthodox dari
ful kind innovative curious hu
uing active uncommon irrever
ol absolute passionate joyfu
sual technological fun sensib
98 99

“The idea that business
the real Innovators’
dIlemma
is just a numbers affair has
Innovation alone does not create value.
always struck me as
It simply offers design and engineering
feats, not things that excite real people. The
preposterous. For one thing,
true innovator’s dilemma is how to build
brands that create barriers for competition
as innovative products or technologies
I’ve never been particularly
become commoditized. Innovation alone is
not the answer.
good at numbers, but I think
You must get beyond innovation.
You must make the connection between
I’ve done a reasonable
innovation and customer value. The
connection is made through the brand.
job with feelings. And I’m
convinced that it is feelings
– and feelings alone – that
account for the success of
the Virgin brand in all of
its myriad forms.”
– Sir Richard Branson,
Virgin Group
BRAND
COMPETITION INNOVATION CUSTOMER VALUE
THE BRAND THE BRAND
AS A AS A
BARRIER TO CONNECTION
COMPETITION TO CUSTOMER
VALUE
100 101

If you want to build a company “As chairman and CEO, my job is to provide
a corporate structure and culture that
that sustains growth and
enables our cast members to perpetuate
the values and traditions that fuel the
Disney magic … I am, in effect, the chief
shareholder value, would you brand manager.”
“I take my responsibility as a steward of
rather your CEO was a the brand very seriously: to protect it,
enhance it and try to ensure that it is even
Chief Emotions Officer or a more valuable and beloved in the 21st
century than it was in the 20th. It’s a
Chief Numbers Officer? responsibility I share with all 120,000 Disney
cast members around the world. We
all know that the Disney brand is our most
valuable asset.”
– Michael Eisner,
Disney
VALUE
–
+
=
102 103

COMPANIES
WILL
THRIVE
“We are in the twilight of a society based
on data. As information and intelligence
become the domain of computers,
society will place more value on the one
human ability that cannot be automated:
emotion. Imagination, myth, ritual –
the rich language of emotion – will affect
ON
everything from our purchasing decisions
to how we work with others. Companies
will thrive on the basis of their stories
and myths. Companies will need to
understand that their products are less
important than their stories.”
THE
– Rolf Jensen,
Copenhagen Institute for
Future Studies
BASIS
OF
THEIR
STORIES
AND
MYTHS

TRUE
LOYALTY
IS
“Most people can’t understand what
would drive someone to profess his or
her loyalty for our brand by tattooing
our logo onto his or her body – or heart.
My fellow employees and I understand
completely. We also understand very
clearly that this indescribable passion is
ABOUT
a big part of what has driven and will
continue to drive our growth.”
– Richard Teerlink,
Harley-Davison
COMMITMENT

emotIonal brandIng
“A great brand taps into emotions. Emotions
drive most, if not all, of our decisions. A
brand reaches out with a powerful connecting
experience. It’s an emotional connecting
point that transcends the product.”
– Scott Bedbury
Nike, Starbucks
1. MEANING 3. CONNECTIVITY
2. AUTHENTICITY 4. RELEVANCY
108 109

“A great brand is a story that’s never
completely told. A brand is a metaphorical
story that connects with something
very deep – a fundamental appreciation of
mythology. Stories create the emotional
context people need to locate themselves
in a larger experience.”
– Scott Bedbury
Nike, Starbucks
Once upon a time…
VERY IMPORTANT:
THE STORY
NEVER ENDS
110 111

“Most executives have no
idea how to add value to
a market in the metaphysical
world. But that is what
the market will cry out for
in the future. There is no
lack of ‘physical’ products to
choose between.”
– Jesper kunde,
A Unique Moment [on the excellence
of Nokia, Nike, Lego, Virgin et al.]
PRODUCTS IN
THE METAPHYSICAL WORLD
PRODUCTS IN
THE PHYSICAL WORLD
112 113

marketer as healer What’s your
healIng benefIt?
What more can you do to today’s
consumers’ already battered brain? More The new reality for marketers is that only
new products, more new services, those offerings that go beyond the need for
more out-bound direct marketing phone superior product quality, competitive
calls during dinner time and more stress? pricing and emotional driven image-building
If others are selling stress, then the communications to deliver some healing
market is need of products that heal. benefit beyond the functional purpose of the
product itself will have enough consumer
How about the marketer appeal to break through the defense. This
will be a new competitive dimension.
as Meta-Physician and
From recycled to sustainable to CSR and
beyond, doing good unto ourselves,
our consumers and others will differentiate
the Brand as Prescription? the past from the new present, the leaders
from the followers.
OR qUALITY
SUPERI
PETITIVE PRICING
COM
AL COMMUNICA
TI O N TIO
O N
EM
G BENEF
ALIN II T
HE
CUSTOMER
APPEAL
114 115

the challenge the solutIon
How can you address and fulfill the In the space between brands and consumers
consumer’s deepest needs and wants – exists a complex web of personal, social
particularly if you’re not in the pharma, and cultural relationships, perceptions,
cosmetics or entertainment industry? meanings, actions, reactions and interactions.
It involves the deepest understanding of Understanding that web and, more
what the consumer cares most about importantly, appreciating and celebrating it
and what state of mind they’re in and after. for its complexity – and for how every
At the heart of an effective brand strategy little vibration across it could signal impending
philosophy is the belief that nothing is so doom for your brand – is absolutely key
powerful as an insight into human nature, to cultivating the kinds of authentic, dynamic
what compulsions drive consumers, what relationships with consumers. So how
instincts their actions and how they do you do that? By nurturing a brand culture
perform – even though language so often that is intensely critical, introspective
camouflages what real motivations. and research centric. Here are five ways to
get that culture started.
1. IF YOUR THINkING IS LOCkED IN A DATABASE,
BREAk OUT OF IT!
Numbers can be a prison. They reveal patterns,
not people. Instead, develop a culture with
an insatiable appetite for qualitative research.
2. TURN YOUR FOCUS GROUPS INTO FIELDWORk.
No amount of coffee, donuts and cash-on-completion
to taste chocolate bars or describe shopping patterns
will mine the kind of critical, deep insights you need.
Stop creating and controlling the context in which you
learn about your consumer.
3. PRIORITIZE WHAT PEOPLE DO OVER
WHAT THEY SAY.
Interviews are good, but the most valuable answers are
BRANDS CONSUMERS BRANDS CONSUMERS
in the consumer’s actions. How they reflect, refute or
reveal layers of articulated and unarticulated need and
desire lead to the deepest insights.
4. MASH UP YOUR STAFF.
Send Brand Managers out into the field with Consumer
Insights, Designers with Usability and Strategists
with Marketing. When a culture of collaborative research
is part of every job description, every job will
contribute to furthering that culture.
5. STOP BELIEVING YOUR OWN HYPE.
No amount of office mythology or self-congratulations
can disguise what you ARE NOT. If consumers
are saying it, it’s probably true. Now is the time to start
engaging them on their terms and in their language
to discover the path forward.
116 117

brand
leadershIp
118 119

brand management vs. the fIve brand
brand leadershIp leadershIp
benchmarks
Brand management is tactical, visual and
There are basically two different orientations
reactive. It’s preoccupied with the 3 Ls of
towards brand: as images and as promises. As you look at these five brand stages,
branding: look, letterhead and logo. Brand
It’s not surprising that there are two funda- note how they are tiered. You need to firmly
leadership is visionary and promise-driven.
mentally different approaches to brand establish one before you can move on to
It concentrates on building brand value that
development as well. These two approaches, the next.
translates into loyalty and market power.
brand management and brand leadership,
Metrics are in place to measure progress. The
are codified by David Aaker and differ in a
goal is brand equity.
variety of ways.
Brand management and brand leadership
Brand management focuses on the short-
represent two ends of a vast continuum.
term. Its primary tool is promotion. Brand
For many marketers, brand leadership might
managers never have enough money and
initially be out of reach and exists only on
seldom have true control over the dollars
the company’s annual report. Their quickest
they do have. Brand leadership is about the
gains might actually be generated by a
long-term. Brand leaders understand
consistent brand management strategy. To
that building brand equity takes time, money,
build a brand promise that consumers
and talent. They know that a successful
will value and, in doing so, help build brand
brand is not built in one budget year or one
equity, it is essential for everyone in that
product launch. Brand leadership is based
continuum to understand the progression of
on the premise that brand building not only
branding from management to leadership.
creates brand equity, but is also necessary
for institutional success. With brand leader-
ship, the institution’s most senior leaders
recognize that building the brand results in a
competitive advantage that pays financially.
5. BEHAVIOR
4. EXPERIENCES
Your brand is
successful if the
perceptions you create
motivate positive
3. VISION
customer behavior.
Your brand is working In other words,
if these experiences do people
CATEGORY BRAND BRAND
create the desired follow through?
MANAGEMENT LEADERSHIP
perceptions in the minds
2. CONSISTENCY and hearts of your
You manage your customers. Remember,
Focus Limited Broad
brand to ensure that the brand perceptions
these experiences and relationships
Product-market scope Single Products-Markets Multiple products and markets
conform to your brand you want to own are
1. TOUCH-POINTS vision and brand those of relevance.
Brand structures Simple Complex brand architectures
Your brand is promise. At this level,
consistent and you branding is strategic,
Number of brands Focus on Single brands Category focus-multiple brands
ensure that the not tactical.
experiences all
Country scope Single country Global or national perspective
communicate the
Your brand is the sum same thing to
Communication focus External customer only Internal as well as external of the experiences your customers and
that your customers have prospects.
whenever they are
exposed to your product,
service or message.
It is this breadth across
all touch-points and
functions that gives
a brand depth
and endurance.
120 121

understandIng brand Brand architecture is the logical, strategic
and relational structure for all of the brands
archItecture
in the organization’s brand portfolio. The
objective is to maximize clarity, synergy and
Creating a clear brand architecture to help
leverage to maximize customer value and
structure position for today and tomorrow
internal efficiencies.
helps build that brand by ensuring everyone
within an organization works to a common
and clearly understood goal.
GM has 33 brand names, P&G has
hundreds, BMW has three, IBM has 2 and
Starbucks has one. Between mergers and
acquisitions, aggressive brand extensions,
the increasingly complexities of sub-brands,
endorsed brands and co-brands, it gets
more and more complicated. Often the task
includes a periodic regrouping of multiple
product groups and brand families, reposi-
tioning them to reflect their role in the market
and to create a structure for immediate
success. Establishing a clear and coherent
brand architecture creates structure within MASTER
BRAND
which vital day-to-day tactical decisions can
be made. Without this brand architecture
in place, these tactical decisions become
strategic and long-winded in nature.
STAND- STAND-
STAND-
SUB- SUB- SUB- SUB- SUB-
ALONE ALONE
ALONE
BRAND BRAND BRAND BRAND BRAND
BRAND BRAND
BRAND
PRODUCT PRODUCT PRODUCT PRODUCT PRODUCT
BRAND BRAND BRAND BRAND BRAND
PRODUCT PRODUCT PRODUCT PRODUCT PRODUCT
BRAND BRAND BRAND BRAND BRAND
PRODUCT PRODUCT PRODUCT PRODUCT PRODUCT
BRAND BRAND BRAND BRAND BRAND
PRODUCT PRODUCT PRODUCT PRODUCT PRODUCT
BRAND BRAND BRAND BRAND BRAND
PRODUCT PRODUCT PRODUCT PRODUCT PRODUCT
BRAND BRAND BRAND BRAND BRAND
PRODUCT PRODUCT PRODUCT PRODUCT PRODUCT
BRAND BRAND BRAND BRAND BRAND
122 123

understandIng brand archItecture and
archItecture posItIonIng
Advantages of developing a brand P&G’s brand architecture effectively
architecture: manages the relationships between product,
brands and market segments. Head &
1. It helps everyone in the organization
Shoulders dominates the dandruff control
see and understand all the connections
shampoo category and Pert Plus targets
between corporate brands, sub-brands
the market for combined shampoo and
and master brands.
conditioner. Pantene is positioned as a brand
2. It simplifies decision making when it with a technological heritage and the
comes to allocating and sharing marketing power to enhance hair vitality. The three
resources such as advertising and brands optimize their brand coverage
promotions. by not being merchandised under a P&G
product brand name. The lesson? Avoid
3. It protects brands from becoming
a brand association that is incompatible
over-leveraged and diluted by over-
with another offering and may adversely
extending communications messages
affect its performance.
and graphic design options.
VISIBLE
CONNECTIONS
BETWEEN
BRANDS
SIMPLIFIED kEEPS
DECISION- BRANDS
MAkING PURE
124 125

understandIng brand case study:
archItecture branded house vs.
house of brands
It is very difficult to offer a generalization on The needs usually consist of one or more
how to put a vast number of brands in of the following:
categories and wed sets of them and their
1. Create and own a different set of
relationships into a composite brand
associations
architecture. Each industry and category
context is different, as are corporate 2. Develop a totally new product offering
views. The tendency is towards having a or a category
master brand. Only when there is a
3. Avoid conflict in brand association
compelling need (and a budget) should a
and identities
separate brand be considered. The big
question is: can the business support a 4. Avoid channel conflict
new brand?
5. Create a price-driven label for
competitive reasons
6. Fulfill needs for new geographies or
unique customer segments
BRANDED HOUSE HOUSE OF BRANDS GENERAL ELECTRIC: PROCTOR & GAMBLE:
BRANDED HOUSE A HOUSE OF BRANDS
126 127

brand separatIon
spectrum
Branded House of Endorsed House House
House Sub-Brands of Brands of Brands
= /
SAME IDENTITY DIFFERENT CO-DRIVERS STRONG LINkED TOkEN SHADOW NOT
UMBRELLA
IDENTITY ENDORSEMENT NAME ENDORSEMENT ENDORSER CONNECTED
AS DRIVER
BMW Gillette Sensor
GE Capital Courtyard DkNY Grape-Nuts Tide Thomson
Buick LeSabre
GE Appliance by Marriott from Post (P&G) (GE)
Sony Sony Trinitron
McMuffin
HP DeskJet
Club Med Obsession Sony Lexus Saturn
Virgin DuPont Stainmaster
Singles vs. Couples byCalvin klein Nestea PlayStation (Toyota) (GM)
VW Beetle
Levi – Europe Friends & Family Docker’s Touchtone NutraSweet
Levi – U.S.A. by MCI LS&Co. (Disney) (G.D.Searle)

case study:
sony brand
archItecture
Sony chooses a single-minded, powerful
and yet flexible architecture and
leverages their corporate brand in many
different ways.
CO-BRAND
CORPORATE UMBRELLA AS DRIVER ENDORSER BRAND INGREDIENT BRAND SHADOW ENDORSER

luxury
brand
marketIng
132 133

What Is a luxury Luxury used to belong to a few privileged few.
Not any more. It’s no longer about simply
brand?
fashion goods, wine, jewelry, handbags and
accessories. Luxury is transforming scores
What qualifies a brand as a luxury brand?
of markets. It comes in many forms, at many
In economic terms, luxury products are
price levels and through a variety of channels,
those whose price/quality/service relationship
no longer confined to a few upscale shops
is the highest on the market or a product
on Rodeo Drive, Fifth Avenue or Bond Street.
that can consistently command and justify a
Almost every marketer needs to consider
higher price than those with comparable THE LUXURY BRAND whether or not they have a luxury brand
functions and similar quality. There is always
strategy in place.
Pure Artist, Creator and
an argument for why some brands qualify
Unique Creation.
as luxury and others are simply well known.
The question is:
Not Scalable Business
Mckinsey defines luxury brands as those
Who will be
which “have constantly been able to justify
a high price, i.e. significantly higher than the
the first one to
price of products with comparable tangible
functions”. This strict economic explanation
effectively
does not help explain how well-known
brands are differentiated from luxury brands.
A Jaguar is considered less expensive
capture this
than a Porsche, but in terms of comparable THE LEADING BRAND
tangible functions it has a much stronger
segment in your
Pure Artist, Creator and
luxury brand image than Porsche. For some
Unique Creation.
reason, Porsche is fast and expensive, just
category?
Not Scalable Business
not luxury. A Breitling watch is generally more
expensive than a watch from Tiffany,
Hermès or Gucci, yet it is often perceived
Luxury hasn’t changed. What’s changing is
as prestigious, not luxurious.
its definition. Once closely associated
with high price, prestige and ostentation,
MASSIFICATION OF LUXURY BRAND
as large segments of consumers move
upscale and luxury goods move downscale,
we’re seeing an explosive growth in
THE qUALITY BRAND
what is being called the “massification of
Exclusive, luxury goods”.
VALUE
Prestige Image, The massification of luxury has been the
Highest quality single most important marketing phenom-
and Service enon of modern times. It goes beyond what
we see today: marketers connecting luxury
to products that were never in that league.
Advertising and packaging common
products with words such as gourmet,
premium, classic, gold and platinum means
that all consumers, whether they can
afford true luxury or not, get a taste of the
tantalizing. And thanks to eBay, more
THE BETTER BRAND
and more people have access to the finer,
Mass Produced, Good
once out-of-reach things in life at an
Overall Price/Value/Image
affordable price.
Equation
If anyone can afford it does it cease to be
luxury? The answer is, Definitely Not.
It only makes such items that much more
desirable. Social philosophers like Pierre
Bourdieu have shown the relationship
between consumption, class and identity.
THE HERMèS BIRkIN HANDBAG THE COACH BAG
In creating one’s identity and place in
IS LUXURIOUS IS NOT THE BRAND
the world, few things in life proclaim status
Constantly Under and superiority than purchasing, owning
Cost Pressures, Unable to and displaying luxury goods.
Build Brand Equity,
Usually Outside of the
Top Three in Market
Share Leadership
134 135

the old luxury the neW luxury
SLAVES TO
BRANDS
WANTS qUALITY BUYS THEM THROUGH
AND SERVICE MULTIPLE CHANNELS,
AT ALL PRICE POINTS AT MULTIPLE PRICE POINTS
A VERY SMALL ONLY FOR THE
SEGMENT VERY RICH
LESS ABOUT CONSPICUOUS
FIERCELY LOCAL,
SUPERB CRAFTSMANSHIP, ONLY AVAILABLE CONSUMPTION AND
ALWAYS LOOk
HIGH qUALITY IN SELECTIVE MORE ABOUT SELF-RESPECT
FOR A BRAND’S
AND HIGH SERVICE UP-SCALE SHOPS AND FULFILLING PERSONAL
HERITAGE
EMOTIONAL NEEDS
136 137

LIVING
the alternatIve vIeW
of marketIng
IS
Marketing is the ultimate social practice of
MORE
postmodern consumer culture. It plays
a key role in giving meaning to life through
consumption.
OF
So is marketing too important to be left to
marketers alone?
A
qUESTION
OF
WHAT
ONE
SPENDS
THAN
WHAT
ONE
MAkES.
– Marcel Duchamp
MANOLO BL AHNIk
138 139

fIt In. be cool.
the neW value add
of advertIsIng
The standard of judgment becomes the
ability to interact effectively with others, to
As a brand marketer, your job is to
win their affection and admiration – to
construct, maintain and communicate
merge with others of the same lifestyle.
identity and social meanings to others.
What is important: Can you consume the
right brands?
FIT IN
BE COOL
FIT IN
BE COOL
FIT IN FIT IN FIT IN FIT IN
BE COOL BE COOL VERY HIP BE COOL BE COOL
BE COOL
FIT IN
BE COOL
FIT IN
140

In the old culture, the limited production What you buy is now more important
capacity of the economy sharply reduced than what you make. Luxury is not a goal
aspirations to material comfort. Today, anymore, for many it is a necessity.
much greater material satisfaction lies within It starts with a need and an anxiety to
the reach of even those of modest means. resolve it. The experience ends, if successful,
with a feeling of relaxation or satisfaction.
Thus a producer culture
If it does not satisfy the need, the process is
repeated. We judge the act by the experience.
We have gone from product to process,
becomes a from problem resolution to emotion seeking,
from object to experience.
consumer culture.
PRODUCER CULTURE LUXURY ITEMS CONSUMER CULTURE PRODUCER CULTURE CONSUMER CULTURE
Only a few could consume Many can consume
luxury brands luxury brands
WHAT YOU BUY
WHAT YOU MAkE WHAT YOU BUY
PROCESS
PRODUCT PROCESS
EMOTION
SEEkING
PROBLEM RESOLUTION EMOTION SEEkING
EXPERIENCE
OBJECT EXPERIENCE
142 143

“Any kind of possession We noW lIve
In consumptIon
really functions, in a sense, communItIes
as an extension of our We are no longer divided by wealth, birth or
political eminence but by consumption.
personal power. It serves to
For marketers, brands and products need to
be positioned to be bought, not made.
make us feel stronger…
When you watch a small
child cling to a piece of cloth
or a doll with all its power
you may begin to understand
the power of ownership.”
– Ernest Dichter,
The Soul of Things
CONSUMER
144 145

THE
MASSIFICATION
AND
DEMOCRATIZATION
OF
LUXURY
HAS
BEEN
THE
SINGLE
MOST
IMPORTANT
MARkETING
PHENOMENON
OF
MODERN
TIME.
146 147

the real vs. Ask this important question:
Luxury shoppers are led by rational desire
to purchase items of high value and
What are
the ImagInary
craftsmanship. Eight of the 10 top purchase
motivators are emotionally driven. Marketers
your key target
Consumption sometimes operates at a level
must tap into consumers’ desires for
of the imaginary, but it can also have
well-being, self-concept and indulgence.
segments’
“real” effects in facilitating the construction
The consumption of symbolic meaning,
of self-identity.
reinforced through advertising, provides the
wildest
individual with the opportunity to construct,
maintain and communicate identity and
imaginations?
social meanings. Victoria’s Secret is a great
example of using the unobtainable,
imaginary dreams of its consumers to drive
sales. When beautiful and perfectly
proportioned models strut down the runway
and grace glossy catalog pages, they say
that the company’s products can enhance
or even instill such glamour. If Victoria’s
Secret products are worn by the beautiful,
does the inverse also hold true? Will
wearing them make one beautiful?
8 OF THE TOP 10
PURCHASE
MOTIVATORS ARE
EMOTIONALLY
DRIVEN
148 149

the materIal vs.
the symbolIc
Just as a product fulfills its ability to satisfy
a mere physical need it must satisfy a
symbolic need to create our meanings of our
selves. We become consumers of illusions.
De Beers’ slogan, “A diamond is forever,”
has been so successful in creating the
illusion of eternal love that a diamond is that
We become consumers
illusion’s material symbol. Now marketers
are trying to do the same with platinum.
of illusions.
Ask this important question:
What illusions does your product help
consumers to create or maintain?
=
= XXX
=
= 24hrs

=
=
BRAND ILLUSION
= $$$

=
150 151

the socIal vs.
the self
The symbolic meanings of products operate
in two directions: outward in constructing
the social world, and inward towards con-
structing our self-identity. Products help us
to become our Possible Selves.
Most SUVs and sports brand images are
built on the very powerful concept of
becoming ourselves, just better. SUVs speak
to ‘sporty’, ‘powerful’, ‘tough’ and ‘rugged’.
They appeal to men (and some women) who
may not travel anywhere more treacherous
than the local supermarket. The Hummer
sold to civilians is radically different from the
one used by the military, yet the brand’s
image, as an enduring, robust all-terrain
vehicle remains intact. Expensive and ‘cool’,
SUVs hold a carpool full of kids and their
hockey equipment without saddling their
upscale owners with a minivan.
Ask this important question:
What are your target luxury segments’ ideal
possible selves?
PRODUCTS
HELP US
TO BECOME
OUR
POSSIBLE
SELVES.

desIre vs.
satIsfactIon
Advertising often provides gratification and
recodes a commodity as a desirable
psycho-ideological ideal. In fact, it feeds
the desire to achieve the often unobtainable
unity of the self, using destabilized
meanings and images that separate products
from their original intended use and
offer the opportunity to reconstruct a self by
purchasing meanings in a do-it-yourself
fashion. Desire exists in the gap between
visual languages and the unconscious.
Desire does not want satisfaction. To the
contrary, desire desires desire. Images
are often so appealing that things cannot
satisfy. Some people desire desirelessness
with such a passion that it actually
increases their ability to desire. What we
do we become stronger in, and these
UNOBTAINABLE
people yearn so much and so often to have COMMODITY
AS A DESIRABLE
no more yearning that their ability to
CONSUMER PSYCHO-
yearn becomes astronomical. Postmodern
IDEOLOGICAL
consumption is inextricably linked with SIGN
DESIRE
aspects of sexuality, both conscious and DOES NOT
subconscious. Desires are constructed WANT
through linkages between consumption and SATISFACTION
the human body. Visuals continue to be
the most powerful tool because they never
satisfy. Calvin klein, Gucci and Abercrombie
and Fitch built and maintain their brands
based entirely on this concept. Meaning is
created through a continuous search for
links between identity (social) and the self.
Ask this important question:
What are the unobtainable that your brands
are based on?
CONSUMER
DESIRE
DESIRES
DESIRE
154 155

ratIonalIty vs.
IrratIonalIty
The expansion of “wants” reduces our
choice to “want not” and sometimes
makes the very idea of rational choice
become meaningless. We’re in the
era of the “empty-self” in which alienation
can be solved by the “lifestyle” solution
in which we construct a “self” by
purchasing even of limited rationality.
156

materIalIsm vs.
spIrItualIsm
We use all kinds of tools everyday.
We are tool users and tools are not
the end but the means. So materialism
does not crowd out spiritualism;
spiritualism is more likely a substitute
when objects are scarce. When we
have fewer things, we make the next
world luxurious. When we have
plenty, we enchant those objects
around us.
158 159

Quotes from partIcIpants of
IdrIs mootee’s advanced
brandIng masterclass 2008
“Luxury comes from
If this is the case, then the current weak
version of experience co-creation (which is
exclusivity Individualism
still more like mass configuration at this
point, despite its own protestations to the
contrary) may give way to what I have
equals exclusivity.
been calling “deep co-creation,” in which
customers not only co-create the
So by definition, every
experience and some of the value, but
the business itself (and, by extension
time a brand gives
the brand). And they will of course do this
as a large, interconnected community.
room to consumers to
So in this changed world, a big part of
people’s meaning might come from
express their indi-
co-creating a business and seeing it thrive.
– Christian Briggs
vidualism, it becomes
an exclusive, luxurious
“‘What constitutes good. This will
luxury becomes a lead to a future of
wholly individual and consumers using
emotional decision.’ their self-expression
Clearly the rules to get the luxury
of luxury are not set into pretty much any
exclusively by a brand in their
few educated minds brandsphere.”
anymore. Experience – Bart Suichies
is luxury. Silence
is luxury. To some, As “Jacques Lacan pointed out, human-
beings need to learn how and what to
not mentioning the desire. ‘Desire is the Desire of the Other.’
It is on the basis of this fundamental
word luxury is luxury. understanding of identity that Lacan
maintained throughout his career that desire
Very human. Not is the desire of the Other. What is meant
by him in this formulation is not the triviality
so engineer-friendly.”
that humans desire others, when they
sexually desire (an observation which is
not universally true).
– André Galhardo
– Flavio Azeved
160 161

about the author
Idris Mootee
CEO, Idea Couture
Idris is an authority and expert in business
and brand strategy and operates
at the intersection of business strategy,
experience design and emerging
technologies. Idris provides C-level
executive and board-level strategic
counsel, innovation and strategic guidance
for multiple industries that often involve
leading growth initiatives and innovation
management. Prior to co-founding
Idea Couture, Idris was Senior VP, Chief
Strategist with Blast Radius, where
he was responsible globally for strategic
outputs including clients such as Nike,
Nintendo, Intrawest, BMW and AOL and
prior to that he was global head of
strategy with Organic with clients such
as HP, Bell, Macy’s and Daimler Chrysler.
His other experiences included and
President, Chief Strategy Officer with
Live Lowe and Partners with clients
such as HSBC and MasterCard.
He is the author of four books, dozens
of published articles and has been quoted
in national media including the New York
Times and Wall Street Journal. He
received his business education from the
London Business School, Harvard
Business School and London Brunel
Graduate School. An accomplished
speaker and thought leader, Idris often
speaks at international conferences
and has a gift for astute observations
and a lively, humorous style that
engages a broad range of audiences.
www.ideacouture.com
blog: http://mootee.typepad.com
162 163